Hitched

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Joyce felt as if she had been lying there in the dark apartment for an eternity. Perspiration had broken out all over her body. I shouldn’t be so terrifed, she thought. But even though Mugsy was tied up and had stretched out on the floor, his very presence was threatening. Joyce couldn’t believe that she was actually hoping that crazy Hattie would return home soon.

I’ve never felt afraid around animals, Joyce thought. Taking care of them is what makes me happy. But this dog is different. He scares me to death. He looks as if he could tear me apart in about ten seconds.

Suddenly Joyce felt a sneeze coming on. She tried to stifle it but that only made the eruption stronger and louder. Her whole body shuddered as she sneezed three times.

Mugsy stood up and glared at her.

Oh, no, she thought.

He started walking toward the coffee table.

His leash is too long, she thought desperately. He is going to reach me. But he was staring at the donuts, not at Joyce. He was just a few feet away from the couch when his leash wouldn’t allow him to go any farther.

He started snarling.

Maybe he’s hungry, she thought. Hattie said he hadn’t been eating. She leaned over, picked up a donut, and tossed it in his direction. “Here, Mugsy,” she said in her friendliest tone.

But it hit him in the face.

The dog went berserk.

He charged toward her, his whole body in a frenzy. Growling and barking, he bared his killer teeth. They were perilously close to the end of the couch.

Joyce swung her legs around so she could get off the couch and attempt to make her way over to the safety of the bathroom. I’ve got to get away from him! she thought frantically. But her every movement enraged him even more.

A wave of nausea swept over Joyce, and the room started to spin.

She pushed herself up on one foot and started hopping, her eye on the bathroom door several feet away.

Behind her, Mugsy was barking furiously, straining his leash as he tried to charge in her direction.

Joyce felt as though she was going to be sick. She was passing the kitchen counter when she heard the most terrifying sound of her life. The leash snapped. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mugsy bolting toward her. With a strength she never knew she possessed, she threw herself in the direction of the sink, pushed herself up onto the counter, stood on her left foot, and grabbed the handle of the kitchen cabinet. Her whole body was trembling.

Mugsy charged over and tried to throw his front paws onto the counter. But they weren’t long enough to reach, and he slipped down. He jumped up again, then started running around in circles. He threw himself again and again up against the counter, trying to reach Joyce, his mouth of killer teeth just inches from her left foot.

If I slip, Joyce thought desperately as she pressed herself as far as she could against the cabinet, I’m going to die.

And I don’t know how long I can stand here on one foot.

As tears slid down her cheeks, she started to pray.